The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that fees on securities transactions and registrations will be reduced by US$1 billion in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2006.

The SEC sets registration and transaction fees according to the Investor and Capital Markets Fee Relief Act. In fiscal year 2007, the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the commission will be reduced by 71.3%, and the fees applicable to most securities transactions will be reduced by 50.2%.

“This is terrific news for investors,” said SEC chairman Christopher Cox. “Even by Washington’s standards, a billion dollars is a lot of money. Money that ultimately would have come out of investors’ pockets can instead now go to retirement accounts, college savings plans, and other investment goals.”

The move will not affect the amount of funding available to the commission.